Doncaster Rovers boss Grant McCann admits he felt more comfortable watching his side defend set pieces after altering their methods for the weekend win over AFC Wimbledon.

Set pieces became Rovers’ Achilles heel in recent weeks, forcing McCann into a change of approach in a bid to halt the vulnerability.

Saturday’s win saw the move from man-marking to a hybrid method, involving some element of zonal marking, and Rovers – who host Chorley in their FA Cup first round replay on Tuesday – had very few nervy moments from set piece deliveries.

“I felt more comfortable,” McCann said.

“Even against Notts County in the Checkatrade earlier in the week I was turning to Cliff [Byrne, assistant] and saying ‘this could be a goal here for them.

“That’s how much I was stressing about set plays.

“The boys stuck to it. We worked hard on it and I thought we looked strong.

“We're zonal and picking up, we're half and half.

“We used players to block running onto the six yard line and it worked.

“Ian Lawlor was on the front foot, punching things away and I thought he was brave with it.

“But it doesn't matter whether you're man marking or zonal, you've got to head the ball and we did that.”

McCann paid tribute to goalkeeping coach Paul Gerrard and assistant boss Cliff Byrne for guiding the players through the new methods.

Gerrard has been consistently involved in the composition of defending from set plays during his five years with Rovers.